CD 1
1. Castle House Rag – James Reese Europe's Society
Orchestra
2. Ole Miss Rag - Handy's Orchestra
3. Russian Rag - Jim Europe's 369th Infantry
"Hell Fighters" Band
4. Wang Wang Blues - Paul Whiteman
5. Memphis Blues - The Virginians
6. Frankie And Johnny - Isham Jones
7. Play That Thing - Ollie Powers' Harmony Syncopators
8. Mama's Gone Goodbye - Piron's New Orleans
Orchestra
9. Frankie And Johnny - Fate Marable
10 Copenhagen - Fletcher Henderson
11. Black Rag - Original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra
12. Someday Sweetheart - King Oliver
13. The Henderson Stomp - Fletcher Henderson
14. Kansas City Shuffle - Bennie Moten
15. My Pretty Girl - Jean Goldkette
16. St. Louis Shuffle - Fletcher Henderson
17. Bogalusa Strut - Sam Morgan
18. Black And Tan Fantasy - Duke Ellington
19. Creole Love Call - Duke Ellington
20. Alexander's Ragtime Band - All Star Orchestra
21. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - Duke Ellington
22. Sugar - Paul Whiteman
23. Black Beauty - Duke Ellington
24. Four Or Five Times - McKinney's Cotton Pickers
25. South - Bennie Moten
26. Hop Off - Fletcher Henderson
CD 2
1. The Mooche - Duke Ellington
2. Hot And Bothered - Duke Ellington
3. Clarinet Marmalade - Lud Gluskin
4. It's Tight Like That - McKinney's Cotton
Pickers
5. West End Blues - King Oliver
6. Everybody Loves My Baby - Earl Hines
7. Blake's Blues - Sam Wooding
8. Ozark Mountain Blues - The Missourians
9. Sugar Hill Function - Henry "Red" Allen
10 Mood Indigo - Duke Ellington
11. Saratoga Drag - Luis Russell
12. Rockin' In Rhythm - Duke Ellington
13. White Jazz - Glen Gray & His Casa Loma
Orchestra
14. Sugar Foot Stomp - Fletcher Henderson
15. Savage Rhythm - Mills Blue Rhythm Band
16. Shakin' The African - Don Redman
17. Who Taught You That - Radiolians
18. Hot And Anxious - Don Redman
19. The Man From Harlem - Cab Calloway
20. New King Porter Stomp - Fletcher Henderson
21. Lafayette - Bennie Moten
22. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues - Louis
Armstrong
23. Daybreak Express - Duke Ellington
24. Casa Loma Stomp - Glen Gray & His Casa
Loma Orchestra
25. Symphony In Riffs - Benny Carter
26. The Growl - Mills Blue Rhythm Band
CD 3
1. In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree - Claude
Hopkins
2. Stompin' At The Savoy - Chick Webb
3. Polka Dot Rag - Noble Sissle
4. Shanghai Shuffle - Fletcher Henderson
5. Copenhagen - Earl Hines
6. Stomp It Off - Jimmie Lunceford
7. Don't Be That Way - Chick Webb
8. Blue Skies - Benny Goodman
9. Liza - Willie Bryant
10. Reminiscing In Tempo - Duke Ellington
11. Froggy Bottom - Andy Kirk
12. Christopher Columbus - Willie Lewis
13. Passionette - Teddy Hill
14. Swing That Music - Louis Armstrong
15. Jimtown Blues - Ben Pollack
16. Organ Grinder's Swing - Jimmie Lunceford
17. Wabash Stomp - Roy Eldridge
18. Remember - Red Norvo
19. King Porter Stomp - Teddy Hill
20. Mahogany Hall Stomp - Bunny Berigan
21. One o'clock Jump - Count Basie
22. Topsy - Count Basie
CD 4
1. Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue - Duke Ellington
2. South Rampart Street Parade - Bob Crosby
3. Sent For You Yesterday - Count Basie
4. Transcontinental - Lyle "Spud" Murphy
5. Liza - Chick Webb
6. Begin The Beguine - Artie Shaw
7. Mess-A-Stomp - Andy Kirk
8. Boogie Woogie - Tommy Dorsey
9. Runnin' Wild - Glenn Miller
10 Grand Terace Shuffle - Earl Hines
11. Tuxedo Junction - Erskine Hawkins
12. In The Mood - Glenn Miller
13. Stealin' Apples - Benny Goodman
14. The Duke's Idea - Charlie Barnet
15. Jamaica Jam - Teddy Powell
16. Riff Interlude - Count Basie
17. Uptown Blues - Jimmie Lunceford
18. Blue Rhythm Fantasy - Gene Krupa
19. Wham - Andy Kirk
20. Chant Of The Weed - Don Redman
21. Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues – Earl
Hines
22. Kitty On Toast - Horace Henderson
23. Ko-Ko - Duke Ellington
24. Pickin' The Cabbage - Cab Calloway
CD 5
1. Tickle Toe - Count Basie
2. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington
3. Okay For Baby - Benny Carter
4. Rockin' In Rhythm - Charlie Barnet
5. Smooth Sailing - Horace Henderson
6. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me - Artie
Shaw
7. Superman - Benny Goodman
8. One o'clock Jump - Metronome All Stars
9. Blue Flame - Woody Herman
10. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington
11. Yes Indeed! - Tommy Dorsey
12. 9.20 Special - Count Basie
13. Swingmatism - Jay McShann
14. Snowfall - Claude Thornhill
15. Blue River - Jack Teagarden
16. Yard Dog Mazurka - Jimmie Lunceford
17. The Earl - Benny Goodman
18. Back Bay Boogie – Benny Carter
19. Tappin' Off - Cab Calloway
20. You Rascal You - Louis Armstrong
21. Murderistic - Jimmy Dorsey
22. Chicago - Muggsy Spanier
23. Gambler Blues - Stan Kenton
24. Savoy - Lucky Millinder
CD 6
1. Stormy Monday Blues - Earl Hines
2. Epistrophy - Cootie Williams
3. Flying Home - Lionel Hampton
4. Main Stem - Duke Ellington
5. The Jumoin' Blues - Jay McShann
6. Pow-Wow - Charlie, Barnet
7. Skyliner - Charlie Barnet
8. Ain't Misbehavin' - Louis Armstrong
9. Fish Market - Roy Eldridge
10. Million Dollar Smile - Lionel Hampton
11. Black Brown And Beige - Duke Ellington
12. In The Middle - Georgie Auld
13. Avenue C - Count Basie
14. Caldonia - Woody Herman
15. Little Jazz - Artie Shaw
16. Boyd's Nest - Boyd Raeburn
17. Beulah's Boogie - Lionel Hampton
18. The Good Earth - Woody Herman
19. I'm In The Mood For Love - Billy Eckstine
20. Queer Street - Count Basie
21. Cherry Red - Eddie Vinson
22. Diga Diga Doo - Benny Carter
CD 7
1. Intermission Riff - Stan Kenton
2. Rockin' In Rhythm - Lionel Hampton
3. Second Balcony Jump - Billy Eckstine
4. Dalvatore Sally - Boyd Raeburn
5. The King - Count Basie
6. Blowin' Up A Storm - Woody Herman
7. Things To Come - Dizzy Gillespie
8. Transblucency - Duke Ellington
9. Opus In Pastels - Stan Kenton
10 Summer Sequence - Woody Herman
11. Introspection - Ralph Burns
12. The Bloos - George Handy
13. Moten Swing - Harry James
14. Jivin' With Jack The Bellboy - Illinois
Jacquet
15. Hy'a Sue - Duke Ellington
16. Two Bass Hit - Dizzy Gillespie
17. Anthropology - Claude Thornhill
18. Donna Lee - Claude Thornhill
19. Mingus Fingers - Lionel Hampton
CD 8
1. Repetition - Charlie Parker with Neal Hefti
2. Your Red Wagon - Count Basie
3. Algo Bueno (Woody'n You) - Dizzy Gillespie
4. Interlude - Stan Kenton
5. Liberian Suite - Duke Ellington
6. Four Brothers - Woody Herman
7. Idiot's Delight - Ray McKinley
8. Good Bait - Dizzy Gillespie
9. The Carioca - Buddy Rich
10 Over The Rainbow - Buddy Rich
11. Early Autumn - Woody Herman
12. Overtime - Metronome All-Stars
13. Lemon Drop - Gene Krupa
14. Hamp's Boogie Nº 2 - Lionel Hampton
15. Undercurrent Blues - Benny Goodman
16. Father Knickerbopper - Chubby Jackson
17. Overtime - Charlie Barnet
18. Elevation - Elliott Lawrence
19. Rouge - Miles Davis
20. Venus De Milo - Miles Davis
21. A Bird In Igor's Yard - Buddy DeFranco
22. More Moon - Woody Herman
CD 9
1. Down Yonder - Buddy Johnson
2. The Scene Changes - Gil Fuller
3. Not Really The Blues - Woody Herman
4. Krazy Kat - Artie Shaw
5. Similau - Artie Shaw
6. Well Oh Well - Lionel Hampton
7. Bear Mash Blues - Erskine Hawkins
8. Local 802 Blues - Metronome All Stars
9. Azure - Les Brown
10. That Old Black Magic - Les Brown
11. Cool Train - Lionel Hampton
12. Kingfish - Lionel Hampton
13. A Tone Parallel To Harlem - Duke Ellington
14. Poggerini - Bill Harris
15. Night And Day - Charlie Parker
16. Azure Te (Paris Blues) - Sauter-Finegan
Orchestra
17. Stompin' At The Savoy - Woody Herman
18. Blackslider's Ball - Lucky Millinder
19. Paradise Squat - Count Basie
20. Young Blood - Stan Kenton
21. 23 North 82 West - Stan Kenton
22. Rocker - Gerry Mulligan
CD 10
1. Walking Shoes - Gerry Mulligan
2. Coop De Graas - Shorty Rogers
3. Chiquito Loco - Shorty Rogers
4. Old Folks - Charlie Parker with Dave Lambert
5. Four Others - Woody Herman
6. Stockholm Sweetnin' - Art Farmer-Clifford
Brown
7. Happy Go Lucky Local - Duke Ellington
8. Lover Man - Stan Kenton
9. Taps Miller - Shorty Rogers
10. Sixteen Men Swingin' - Count Basie
11. Havanna Interlude - Leith Stevens
12. You For Me - Count Basie
13. The Loop - Sauter-Finegan Orchestra
14. Jersey Bounce - Benny Goodman
15. Paradoxe II - Jazz Group de Paris
16. Sprang - Ralph Burns among the JATP's
17. Harlem Air Shaft - Duke Ellington
18. Opus De Funk - Woody Herman
19. Sunset Tower - Stan Kenton
20. Two o'clock Jump - Harry James
21. Chinese Water Torture - Billy Byers
This
amazing boxed collection of ten CDs (228 tracks
from 96 bands!) is just one of several remarkable
compilations assembled by André Francis
and Jean Schwarz. It will arouse many questions
in the listener’s mind. For example, why
big bands? Just as the symphony orchestra
developed into a generally agreed (and very
large!) ensemble, so big bands evolved in
the 1920s and 1930s to cater for audiences
in large dance halls and to provide more potential
for complex arrangements. With inevitable
exceptions, the format tended to consist of
four "sections" – trumpets, trombones,
saxophones and rhythm – with an average total
of between about 14 and 20 musicians. This
line-up allowed arrangers plenty of scope
but it also tended to create hackneyed methods
of orchestration (which I mentioned in my
recent review of Fletcher Henderson compilation
Sweet and Hot) and which unfortunately
persist today. As one progresses through these
ten CDs, it is often wearisome to encounter
many of the same old methods, which tend to
make the music samey instead of innovative,
stodgy instead of stimulating.
Listeners
may also be stimulated to wonder what exactly
a big band is – besides an ensemble with more
personnel than a small group. Many big bands
of the thirties were closer to dance bands
than jazz groups, allowing little room for
jazz solos. The album title may be ambiguous
but the compilers clarify their intentions
in the sleeve-note, which uses the description
"The Golden Age of Big Bands in Jazz",
stressing that this compilation rightly prizes
the jazz content. So Glenn Miller’s orchestra,
one of the most famous big bands of all, is
only represented by two items (Runnin’
Wild and In the Mood) illustrating
Miller’s jazzier moments. Incidentally, the
well-known riff of In the Mood is anticipated
by Don Redman’s Hot and Anxious (on
CD2) seven years earlier.
The
chronological arrangement of the tracks helps
immensely in tracing the development of big-band
music, although it only takes us up to 1955.
The first track – a 1914 recording by James
Reese Europe’s Society Orchestra - predates
by three years the first record by the Original
Dixieland Jazz Band, which is often described
as the first example of recorded jazz. Certainly
there are some jazzy and syncopated elements
in the playing by Europe’s band, which consisted
of three violins, cello, cornet, clarinet,
piano, banjo and drums. But you might categorise
it as an example of ragtime, which is also
the pigeonhole you could use for the second
track – a 1917 recording by W. C. Handy’s
orchestra playing one of his most enduring
compositions.
Incidentally,
these first two recordings are by ensembles
containing respectively ten and thirteen musicians,
suggesting that the description of "big
band" has always been flexible. As the
compilers observe, "in the early days,
ten musicians constituted a big band".
Nevertheless it’s a surprise to find two recordings
by "Miles Davis and his Orchestra"
which had only nine musicians. Wabash Stomp
was recorded in 1937 by trumpeter Roy Eldridge
with a studio group comprising only eight
players. This may remind us of the fact that
big bands often included "a band within
a band" – like Artie Shaw’s Gramercy
Five – which gave the rest of the band a rest.
Sticking strictly to its title, this compilation
omits most of these smaller groups.
Another
omission which might attract criticism is
the general neglect of the big-band singers,
who became an integral part of the swing era
popularity of the big bands and developed
talents like Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra,
who went on to successful careers as soloists.
There are occasional exceptions here – such
as Jo Stafford singing Yes Indeed!
with Tommy Dorsey’s band and Billy Eckstine
singing Stormy Monday Blues with the
Earl Hines orchestra. I enjoyed the three
tracks by Chick Webb’s band, but there is
no sign of their hit-making vocalist, Ella
Fitzgerald. And I regret the lack of recognition
given to vocalists like Martha Tilton who
contributed so much to the success of such
recordings as Benny Goodman’s And the Angels
Sing and Loch Lomond.
Benny
Goodman fans may also regret the absence of
tunes like Sing, Sing, Sing or Clarinet
à la King, although the Goodman
orchestra deservedly appears six times in
this collection. More numerous appearances
are made by the bands of Count Basie, Lionel
Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Woody Herman,
and Stan Kenton. But the only band that crops
up on each of the ten discs is that of Duke
Ellington, fortifying my view of his primacy
in this field.
The
sleeve-note describes some of the innovations
that Ellington created in 1927 with such classics
as Black and Tan Fantasy and Creole
Love Call: "Some surprising new soundscapes
emerge thanks to the use of muted trumpet
and trombone and the wah-wah effect, the human
voice, violent contrasts, sugar-sweet developments.
Duke is not merely content with entertaining
his audience, he tells some quite complicated
stories too". Ellington set himself apart
from most other bandleaders by continually
exploring and expanding the role of the big
band. I am particularly glad to find that
the compilers have included some of Duke’s
longest and most substantial "stories"
– Reminiscing in Tempo, Black, Brown and
Beige and A Tone Parallel to Harlem.
Even
Ellington’s shorter pieces have many passages
of inspired invention. Hot and Bothered
from 1928, for example, of which the composer
Constant Lambert said "I know of nothing
in Ravel so dexterous in treatment as the
varied solos in the middle of the ebullient
Hot and Bothered and nothing in Stravinsky
more dynamic than the final section".
After starting in the two-beat rhythm familiar
at the time, the tune suddenly takes off with
Wellman Braud’s double bass punching out a
propulsive four-in-a-bar which anticipates
the swing era. And savour the remarkable range
of tone colours in a track like Diminuendo
and Crescendo in Blue – the original version
from 1937, which was reworked so miraculously
to revive Duke’s career in 1956.
There
were many really inventive bandleaders and
arrangers who, as they arrived on the scene,
pushed the big-band idiom forward. Thus Woody
Herman added touches of comic anarchy to humanise
the music, while Boyd Raeburn pushed the boundaries
with his unexpected discords. The beboppers,
featured strongly on the eighth CD, said goodbye
to dance band conventions, and Shorty Rogers
exemplified the tightly coordinated West Coast
style. Lionel Hampton and Buddy Johnson foreshadowed
the rhythm-and-blues which was to lead to
rock ‘n’ roll. Throughout it all, leaders
like Count Basie repeatedly reminded us of
the virtues of good old-fashioned simple swing
The
sound quality of these transfers is generally
fine, and the enclosed booklet supplies copious
notes as well as personnels and recording
dates. This boxed set is a treasure trove
of delights – including some dross amongst
the gold (even the compilers admit that "in
these chronological presentations of the history
of jazz, the inventive has gone hand in hand
with the mediocre"). Besides being a
remarkable assemblage, this is an educational
collection that is highly recommended. You
are also recommended to shop around for it,
as I have seen its price mentioned as everything
from £22.40 to £38.79. – although it’s a bargain
even at the higher price.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Le
Chant du Monde 574 1481.90
